Fic: Volunteer
Title: Volunteer
Author: saucydiva
Word count: 5K
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Clearly I don’t own it or I’d be on a high-speed luxury train right now.
Timeline: Fall, between the 73rd and 74th Hunger Games
Summary: The kids of D12 find themselves in a house of horrors
Author’s Note: Written for the Prompts in Panem R2D6 prompt: Horror
deathmallow and throwingpens were both deserve a ton of credit for helping me through this.
“I never thought I’d see the three of you in here,” Principal Cooper said, leaning forward on her desk. “You, yes,” she said as she pointed to Katniss, who shrugged. “But you two are from good families.” Katniss couldn’t look over at Delly and Peeta, sitting in their chairs. What was the point? “I should give you all detention, every day after school and Saturdays too, for the rest of the month.”
Katniss knew protesting was futile. Apparently the blonde kids didn’t, though, because they both started to protest.
“Enough,” Ms. Cooper said, smacking her palm on her desk. “I should give you all detention, but I won’t. Instead, I’m sending you on a mission. We need some volunteers-“ she paused, letting everyone know that volunteer meant something different to her. “To clean up the district in time for the visit from the Capitol. In particular, the Capitol wants to see its Victor’s house sparkle. And right now, Mr. Abernathy-well, he needs some assistance getting everything into working order. And I know I can count on you three to volunteer your Saturday to cleaning that place. Top to bottom.
***
Katniss got to the house in Victor’s Village at the same time as her two classmates. The three of them stared at each other for a moment before Delly cracked a smile and said, “This isn’t going to be so bad.” She knocked on the door, but no one answered.
She knocked again, and still there was no sign of life inside.
“I’m going to go around the back and see if there’s another door,” she said, shooting Peeta a pointed look. “We want to get in before this storm starts.”
A moment after Delly took off, Peeta turned to Katniss. “Have you ever met him?” he asked. “Haymitch?”
Katniss saw no reason to answer him. How would she have ever met District 12’s most famous recluse? She’d seen Haymitch around the Hob occasionally, but she wasn’t about to stop and chat with him. No one in their right mind would want to do so before they aged out of the reapings.
“He is our Victor,” Peeta added, as though Katniss was unaware of that fact.
Why you? She thought. Out of all the kids at school, why you? She’d spent four years avoiding him, ever since they were eleven, to great success. And yet, here he was, and here she was, and now she had to talk to him?
Delly popped back on to the porch, saving Katniss from having to respond. “Let’s try the front door again!” she said, knocking firmly.
Suddenly, Katniss saw another blonde head appear in her periphery. “Madge?” she asked.
“She speaks,” Peeta said, chuckling.
“Hi Katniss, Peeta, Delly,” Madge said, rubbing her hands on her gingham dress.
“What are you being punished for?” Delly asked. “We were caught-“
The door swung open, and a tall, dark man stood in the doorway, staring at them. He drank something from his bottle. “Aren’t you kids supposed to be here on Saturday?” he asked.
“It is Saturday, sir,” Peeta said.
“Could you come back at, hmmm, 3pm?” Haymitch asked.
“No!” Katniss said. She said it with such force that she could feel four pairs of eyes on her, and she tempered her voice. “No, we’re supposed to be working now. I’m not coming back.”
“They sure make Seam kids feisty these days. Well then,” Haymitch said, regarding them. “Ok, girl-“ he pointed at Katniss. “And…. boy, you’ll be starting in the living room, and blonde girl, other blonde girl, you’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Maybe I could work in the kitchen and switch with Delly-“
“No!” Delly said. “I’ll go to the kitchen, and you work with Peeta.” She linked arms with a surprised-looking Madge and walked across the threshold. Haymitch followed them both, swaying slightly.
Katniss looked over at Peeta, just as a bolt of lighting sizzled through the air, illuminating the porch. “After you,” he said, gesturing.
Katniss stepped into the house.
And almost immediately took a step back, bumping into her cleaning partner. He put out his hands and steadied her. She opened her mouth, and she hadn’t yet decided if she wanted to scold him for offering unwanted assistance, or start the long process of thanking him, when he cut her off.
“What the hell is this?”
They both looked around at the living room. There was a television, or what had once been a television, smashed through what had once been a glass table. There was a couch that had giant holes in the fabric, and a set of shelves decorated with broken glass. A small wooden table was upended. And all over was the remnants of food, some recent, some ancient, and plates and tumblers and forks, all littered liberally over the carpet.
And there was a smell-the whole thing was ghastly.
“How could someone live like this?” Peeta asked, pulling his tshirt over his nose. “Katniss, if you want to-you could wait on the porch and I could at least take care of some of the decomposed-“
She cut him off and stepped carefully into the room. “What, you think I can’t handle this?” What was this kid’s problem? She was just as capable as he was of doing this. “Besides, it’ll be over sooner and we’ll be on out way.”
The front door, which she’d left open, banged shut at that. They both jumped, but Katniss was determined not to let him see her rattled.
Peeta disappeared, and returned with plastic bags. “Let’s get the food as much as we can, first.”
Katniss grabbed a bag from his hand and was about to start prying a former sandwich off the couch when Peeta grabbed her wrist. “Wait,” he said, and she glared at his hand, so pale and white compared to her own skin. “I brought small bags, too, so we don’t have to touch it.” He pulled his hand away from hers, and she rubbed her wrist even though it didn’t hurt. He pulled a plastic bag over his hand, like a glove, and then started in on the sandwich. From the look on his face, the task was unpleasant. But it was something she could do, better than him.
They worked in silence.
***
The knock on the door startled both of them. Katniss looked over at Peeta, who shrugged. She opened the door. She was greeted by a howl of wind and then, a person.
“Gale,” she said with a smile.
“Catnip,” Gale said, walking right in. He had his bow-and hers. “I think it’s time you left this house of horrors and came outside with me. This storm’s going to pass through soon enough, and the rain’s pretty light past the fence.” He held the bow out, and her hands itched to grab it, when she heard a small cough.
“Hawthorne,” Peeta said. His voice was cautious and his look guarded.
“Mellark,” Gale answered, giving him a sarcastic salute.
Katniss glanced over at Peeta, who was no longer sweeping up broken glass. Instead, he was staring unabashedly at the two of them, like he couldn’t decide if she was going to take off with Gale or not. She wanted more than anything to flee the house and go to the forest, but there was still a lot to be done.
She hedged. “What else is there we have to do?”
Peeta laughed. “Didn’t you read the packet?”
Of course she hadn’t read the packet.
“We have a clean up the main floor and the basement. Only the upstairs can remain… like this. And we haven’t even finished this one room.” He started again with the broom, and said, casually, “It’s fine. If you want to go I’ll cover for you. Haymitch probably won’t even notice.”
Now Katniss couldn’t possibly leave. Gale got that, and leaned her bow next to the door. “When you’re done…” he said, letting that dangle. He glanced at her, then went to open the door. He struggled for a moment, then scratched the back of his neck. He went for the handle again, pulling and pushing and not opening the door at all.
Peeta strolled over, smoothing wedging himself between Gale and the door. Gale quirked his mouth into an almost-smile when the other boy couldn’t open it either.
Peeta looked perplexed, then shrugged. He squared up his shoulders-he was broad, and when he did that, he looked older than his fifteen years. He threw his weight at the door, and fell backwards.
Gale was offering him a hand up when Madge ran down the front staircase. “Haymitch is dead!”
“No he isn’t,” Peeta said, still on the floor, though he was scrambling to stand.
“Undersee, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be doing something important for the world, like playing your piano?” Gale looked down at Madge
“Shouldn’t you be-I don’t have time for this! Someone needs to get Katniss’s mom over here.”
“He can’t be dead,” Peeta said. “He’s our Victor.”
Delly scurried in from the kitchen. “Who’s dead?”
Peeta answered her with, “No one’s dead” while Madge started frantically pulling on Delly’s arm.
“Just a minute, Madge, hold on-oh, hey, Hawthorne. Shouldn’t you be on the heap today?” Delly smiled sweetly.
“What’s the point, if you’re here already?” Gale smirked at her. Delly giggled.
“Guys, can we focus on the dead guy upstairs?” Madge asked, glaring. “Someone, anyone, come with me. You, Katniss.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Katniss said, nauseous at the thought. “Besides, Peeta said we aren’t supposed to go upstairs.”
“Yeah,” Peeta said. “What were you doing upstairs, anyway?”
Madge looked pale, but grabbed Peeta and hauled him along with her.
“If the front door’s not working, we have a door in the kitchen,” Delly said, sweeping past Gale and Katniss.
They converged around the back door, but no one grabbed the handle.
“This is stupid-ack!” Gale screamed, dropping his hand as though he’d been burned.
Which, as it would turn out, he had. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. Katniss could barely bring herself to pull him to the sink, to use the running water being the richest man in 12 afforded a person. She held Gale’s fingers under the cold water and looked away.
Delly, meanwhile, failed to open the window next to the door. She also couldn’t open the one over the counter that overlooked the backyard.
They heard a scream.
“Madge!” Gale said, taking off for the stairs. Delly and Katniss took off behind him.
They found the room, the only one with an open door. Inside, Gale stroked Madge’s hair carefully. Peeta, meanwhile, knelt next to the bed, where-
“Katniss,” he said. “Your mom’s a healer. It’s in your blood. You have to-you have to try.”
Katniss didn’t want to try. Still, she knelt down next to Peeta and took Haymitch’s wrist in her hands. She held her fingers on his wrist, feeling for a pulse. She couldn’t feel anything. “Go get some water,” she snapped.
Delly took off.
“Are you going to use it to heal him?” Peeta asked, his eyes wide.
“No, I’m thirsty,” she replied. She looked over Haymitch, and saw he looked pale. His hair was greasy and dark, his stubble prominent. She cringed, but leaned over and opened his mouth. She stuck two fingers in, but didn’t feel anything blocking his airways. Nor did he have any exposed wounds. What would Mother do? she wondered.
“Maybe we should-“ But she was cut off by a scream. Delly. “You two-“ she pointed at Gale and Madge. “Go figure out what’s wrong.”
Meanwhile, she pressed her wrist on Haymitch’s forehead. He did feel cold yet, but he didn’t feel warm enough, either. Maybe they should warm him up? Or would that do anything? What were people supposed to feel like?
Damn it, she thought. She rubbed her hands on her pants, and put her wrist to Peeta’s forehead. She looked him in the eyes, trying to assess if he was the correct temperature a person should be. He looked a little pink, really, but that could be exertion, or wind burn. He was normally much paler. She touched his cheek, which was also warm.
“Katniss,” he said, his forehead puckering.
Madge ran in, panting slightly, and Katniss’s first thought was now I can feel her forehead too. But then Katniss notices the blood on Madge’s hands, and she forgets foreheads and dead men.
“We can’t find Delly.”
***
Twenty minutes later, they’ve combed through the house and found no trace of the missing girl. There was, however, a large puddle of red in front of the kitchen sink.
“This is not good,” Gale said. “We need to get out of this house.”
“We need to find Delly,” Peeta said, squaring up his shoulders. He was broader than Gale, though Gale had height that Peeta lacked. Gale’s brow furrowed.
“Of course we need to find Delly,” Madge said. “And we’ll get Haymitch some help.”
“Maybe if we save the victor, they’ll take us out of the reaping bowl,” Gale mutters, and everyone went still for a moment.
“Probably can’t hang our hats on that idea,” Peeta said.
“Not really something you have to worry about, Merchant,” Gale said.
“My name’s in that bowl, same as yours, Hawthorne,” Peeta said, squaring his shoulders again.
“It’s not the same and you know it,” Gale said, pushing up his sleeves. Katniss feared they might try come to blows, and she went towards the door for her bow.
She returned to find Madge talking low to Peeta, and Gale leaning against the counter, ignoring them both.
She handed Gale his bow and quiver.
“Really, Katniss, weapons?” Madge said, looking up from her private conversation.
“We don’t know what’s going on,” Katniss said. “It can’t hurt.”
“We should all be armed,” Gale said. “Mellark, see if you can find a rolling pin. Madge, maybe you can whack whatever this is with a pillow.”
Peeta started rummaging through drawers and cabinets. “I don’t think Haymitch has put away a dish since sometime last year,” he said, but he eventually located a frying pan and handed it to Madge. He got down on his knees and looked under the sink. “I found something!” He stood up, brandishing a knife.
The power went out.
“Anyone have any matches?” Peeta asked. The storm outside illuminated him, and the light off of his knife gave Katniss a queer feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I have some,” Gale said, shuffling around. There was a scraping sound, and suddenly there was a little light from his hands.
“The basement,” Madge said. “That’s the one place we haven’t looked.”
“That’s such a bad idea,” Gale said. “But you’re right. Katniss?”
“Are you sure we should send down our only two people with actual weapons?” Peeta said.
Madge broke in. “Should we really split up at all?”
“Oh, come on, princess. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Gale said, grabbing Madge’s arm. “Katniss-“ and he shoved some matches and a spare candle into her hands.
She was alone in the kitchen with Peeta.
“Are you sure you tried all the doors?” Peeta asked. “Maybe Delly opened one and left?”
“You want to check them again? Be my guest.”
Peeta grabbed her hand. She pulled it away. “What are you doing?”
“I just think we should stick together till we figure out what’s going on. We’re better together than apart, here.”
She was glad to have someone near by, especially with all the strange noises. It was just the house settling, she reasoned.
She let Peeta drag her to the door. He used the edge of his shirt to shield him from the heat, but still, the door wouldn’t open. He went around to all the possible escape routes on the main floor and found none of them would open.
“Now what?” Peeta asked. His fingers were still laced with hers, and the living room was dark, except for brief flashes of lightning through the windows, and her candle on the table.
“I don’t know,” she answered. He kept rubbing his thumb over hers, and it was distracting her.
They heard a loud curse from the basement, and she sprung away from him. Gale came running up a moment later, surprised to find Katniss standing at the top of the stairs with her bow cocked.
“Whoa, Catnip, calm down, it’s me,” he said. She felt better, but kept her arrow ready.
“Where’s Madge?” Peeta asked from just behind Katniss. His breath tickled her ear, and she slapped a hand over it and jerked away.
Gale groaned. “We were downstairs, candle out, sticking together-“
Katniss felt Peeta elbow her in the arm, as if to prove a point.
“And she just-it was like she melted into the walls. She was feeling along, looking for clues, or more blood, or something, and she just… vanished.”
Katniss felt a pang in her chest for poor Madge. For the first time, it occurred to Katniss that something had to be going on. Two girls gone, one man dead-and they still couldn’t escape.
***
They went upstairs again. This time, she stuck close to both her remaining peers, never more than a few feet from either of them. This time, all three kept their weapons at the ready.
They were going from room to room-and Katniss couldn’t help but notice how many rooms this house had, as it was easily the size of their entire school building, and had much nicer furnishings, or had before the place had been trashed-testing out windows, doors, anything they could think of. Most of the windows wouldn’t open, but finally, they found one that would.
The window overlooked a steep drop over bare dirt. She could see the Town from the window, probably a thirty minute stroll, or a twenty minute run. There were no pipes to climb down, or bushes to land in, or trees to aid the way down.
Then, the arguing started up. Gale wanted to go out the window one by one, and go get help. Peeta thought they should stay inside, where they weren’t going to end up with broken ankles from a two-story jump. Gale told Peeta he could stay, but Gale was going to grab Katniss and get them both to safety. Peeta said he wanted everyone to be safe, but felt the window wasn’t the way to go.
She, meanwhile, looked around for more supplies to aid them. She rummaged through a closet, finding nothing of use to her in it, when she realized both the boys were silent.
“So,” Gale said. “What do you think?”
By the light from the window, she could see the boys staring at her. She felt awkward. “What are we deciding on?” she asked, stalling for more time.
“Are you coming?” Gale asked. “Because I don’t care what this one says, I’m going out that window. Are you coming?”
Katniss didn’t want to stay in the house, but she also realized that long jumps weren’t a great idea, either. There was nothing to impede his jump, but there wasn’t anything to catch him, either. She cracked her knuckles. “I think we should stay here.”
“Fine,” Gale said, his voice tight. He eyed the window, and then dragged a bedside table. He boosted himself up, securing his bow. “Give me a blanket or something, so I don’t get too soaked.”
Peeta rummaged around, and found something that looked more like a table cloth, but it would have to do.
“Are you sure?” Katniss asked.
“I have to do something,” Gale said. And then he was gone, out the window.
Katniss jumped up on the table. She could see the table cloth , crumpled in a pile under the window, but Gale wasn’t in sight at all. He should still be in view she realized.
She turned to Peeta. “This isn’t good.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s ok.” But his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “we’ll find another way out.”
She looked back out the window, and that was when she saw it. Gale’s bow, lying several feet away from the table cloth.
She felt herself crumple. “He wouldn’t have-“
Peeta drew her into his arms, and it felt better than she expected. She wasn’t one for touching, but she was tired, so very tired. “He wouldn’t have left his bow. Something’s wrong. I don’t know what’s wrong, but-his bow should be with him.”
“He’s ok, they are all going to be ok,” Peeta murmured. “I’m sorry about your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said, wondering if she had to start using the past tense. No, she wouldn’t. But she couldn’t bring herself to look out the window again, to see his bow abandoned.
She wondered if she should break the hug. She started to pull back, smacking a shoulder against the closet door. Something shifted, and there was a rumble and something was falling-
They were on the floor a heartbeat later, Peeta shielding her from-more broken glass? She couldn’t see clearly, but nothing hurt.
“Are you--?” she asked him.
“Mostly,” he said. “Come on.”
He grabbed her, the weapons, and the candle, and they moved cautiously into the hallway.
“I think we need a better plan, Peeta,” she said.
“I’m doing the best I can, Katniss,” he said through clenched teeth. “This isn’t exactly my usual Saturday.”
They were interrupted by another large crash.
Peeta yanked her arm hard, and Katniss found herself in some sort of bedroom.
At least, it had been a bedroom at one point. There was a bed, but the mattress had large, gaping holes in it, and there was a chest of drawers, though all but one of the drawers were missing. There was broken glass, too, as there was all over the house. The only thing that was undisturbed in the room was a skirt and a woman’s shirt, carefully hung from hangers on the wall.
“I think we’re going to die,” he said, shivering.
“We can’t,” she answered. And they couldn’t. Gale- Gale- was gone, and that left Katniss responsible for half a dozen people. She couldn’t die. She wouldn’t die.
“If we’re going to die, I have something I have to say to you-“ he said.
Katniss couldn’t imagine where this was going. If this was about that bread, she’d pay him back, somehow, soon.
“I’ll pay you back,” she blurted out.
“What? No. What? I meant, since we’re going to get killed by this awful house, and since I’ve always wanted to tell you I thought you were- I think it’s amazing how you take care of your family.”
Katniss had no idea how to respond to that. “Thank you?”
“And I’ve had a crush on you forever,” he said.
She felt her mouth drop open. She let her mind flip through the pages of her life, looking for hints from the interactions they’d had over the years. Was there something she’d missed in the past, or a sign she should have picked up on?
No. There was nothing.
He was rambling. “And I know half the guys at school are afraid of you, but I’ve seen how you are with your sister, and I know you have this sweet side no one knows about-“
Katniss didn’t want to listen to this, but didn’t know how to stop him from talking. At least, not without losing an arrow, and she didn’t want to do that.
She leaned forward and kissed him.
He stiffened. But he stopped talking.
It was her first time kissing a boy. Peeta’s lips felt strange mashed up against hers, but this seemed adequate.
Peeta pushed her away, just the slightest tap on her shoulder, and she broke it off.
His voice was hoarse. “What are you doing?”
Shutting you up probably wasn’t the best answer to give, so she just kissed him again.
This time, he anticipated her, and he caught her in his arms and crushed her against his chest.
She only had the one kiss to compare it to, but this was better. He broke it off again, and dug his non-knife hand into her hair. He pressed his forehead against hers, and she noticed his eyelashes. They were long, ridiculously long. He whispered, “I never thought we’d-this is so-.“ He kissed her this time, and she gripped him .
“What the hell are you two doing?” A voice cut through the strange kissing haze Katniss found herself in. “Don’t teens go to the slag heap anymore?”
Katniss scrambled away from Peeta, her face on fire. “You’re alive!” she said, realizing that voice belonged to the only adult in the house.
“Every single day I remind myself of that,” Haymitch said. “I don’t need you to do it too.”
“Your house is killing our friends,” Peeta said, raking his hand through his curly blond hair.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Haymitch asked.
“Delly was in the kitchen, and now she’s gone and there’s blood, and Madge disappeared in the basement, and Gale went out the window-“
“I thought there were only four of you?”
Peeta shrugged. “Right now, there are only the two of us, and I don’t think Principal Cooper is going to be happy about this.”
“I didn’t ask for a gaggle of teenagers on my doorstep, boy. But I think we can find your friends.” He took off down the hall, and Katniss had to hustle to match his long stride. “Why the hell didn’t you guys wake me?”
“You were dead,” Katniss said.
“I was napping.”
“I stuck my fingers in your mouth,” she said, shuddering. “To see if you were choking.”
“That’s hardly my idea of a fun Saturday either, girl,” Haymitch said.
***
The six of them sat on the porch, waiting for the rain to slow.
Haymitch, it seemed, was paranoid in the extreme. His house was booby-trapped; he’d meant to go over that with them, but had forgotten.
Madge had found the spinning wall, poking the candle stick that opened a secret compartment in the walls. She’d banged her head on the way in, and woke up in a small room, alone and without light. She’d been in a panic, and even now sat on the porch with her back against the house still shaking.
Delly, meanwhile, had discovered the trap door in the kitchen when she almost tripped over it. She’d tried to investigate, thinking it might get them out of there, but she’d sliced up her arm on the way in. And there was no tunnel, just a six foot drop and a heavy door.
Gale had successfully jumped the window, but had twisted his ankle. He’d had to drag himself in the opposite direction of the rest of 12, and had been found in the backyard.
“But why?” Peeta asked, for the third time.
“I hope you never find out,” Haymitch said darkly. “Look, the rain’s clearing up. I need one of you to go to get someone to fix everyone up.”
“I’ll go,” Katniss offered.
“I’ll go too,” Peeta said.
“Of course you will,” Haymitch said.
Gale’s eyes narrowed. “What do you-“
“Other boy, hush up,” Haymitch said.
Katniss turned to Madge, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry you ended up here. What were you getting punished for, anyway?”
“I-.“ she mumbled. Katniss was barely a foot from her, and she could hardly hear her.
“What?” Delly asked. “It couldn’t be any sillier than why we got volunteered to go here.”
“I wasn’t. I wasn’t in trouble. I just wanted to-Maysilee Donner was my aunt. And I wanted to see if I could find-my mother never talks about her-”
Haymitch went pale. “I don’t think that’s a good-“
“Please,” Madge said.
“Fine. Once you’re healed up, we’ll chat,” Haymitch said, taking a long drink of something brown.
Katniss didn’t know what was going on, but Madge seemed miserable, so she touched her on the arm, then turned and started walking. Peeta fell in step next to her.
“So,” he said. He was limping, and it was then that she noticed his wound.
She looked over at him. “Your leg.”
“Yeah, I scratched it up something fierce when we had to dive away from that closet.”
“You injured yourself covering me,” she said.
“What was the alternative? Did you want to get sliced to ribbons?”
Katniss went quiet. This was just another thing she’d owe him. She was always owing Peeta Mellark, and she didn’t like it. “I don’t even know what this is about. You don’t even like me.”
“Not true,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“That’s why we got in trouble in the first place! You were making fun of me.” She’d been in the lunchroom, picking at her sandwich, when Delly and Peeta had approached her. She’d put them both in their place pretty quickly, but she could still feel the stares from her classmates, the heat of the humiliation.
“I wasn’t!” he said, putting his hands up. “I was trying to ask you if you wanted to go to the Harvest Festival. With me.”
“Why? You don’t need me to go with you,” she said, brow furrowed. Everyone was invited to the Harvest Festival; he didn’t need an escort from the Seam.
“True, I don’t need you, I thought it would be fun. You know, fun? We could eat popcorn, play the rubber duck game-and I’ll have you know, I love the rubber duck game-and, we could, if you want, dance at the end of the night.”
Katniss considered this. Maybe if she did this, went with him to the festival, she’d finally be done owing him. One afternoon had to equal the bread, the beating, and the leg, right? If she did this, she might be free.
Peeta smiled nervously at her, and she found herself blushing.
She knew suddenly that Gale wouldn’t be pleased, though she couldn’t put her finger on why. But her stomach lurched at the thought of trying to explain this to her friend.
“I’ll allow it,” she said.
“We might have to have lunch together one of these days, you know, at school, so we can plan our rubber duck strategy. I’ve given this game a lot of thought, I’ll have you know.”
Katniss laughed. He stepped in front of her, and for a moment, she was worried he’d try to kiss her. Again.
“I’m really excited, Katniss,” he said, brushing a hair off her face. His fingertip brushed over her brow, and she felt an unexpected heat from the contact. “I’m glad we’re getting to know each other.” He turned back to the path and starting limping back to town.
She wondered if he meant that, or if this was a one-time thing, born out of panic and fear, and if, come Monday morning, he’d be eating lunch with his usual crowd. She wondered if he really had a crush on her, and what that would mean for the two of them.
Out of all the kids in school, she thought. Why me?
Author: saucydiva
Word count: 5K
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: Clearly I don’t own it or I’d be on a high-speed luxury train right now.
Timeline: Fall, between the 73rd and 74th Hunger Games
Summary: The kids of D12 find themselves in a house of horrors
Author’s Note: Written for the Prompts in Panem R2D6 prompt: Horror
deathmallow and throwingpens were both deserve a ton of credit for helping me through this.
“I never thought I’d see the three of you in here,” Principal Cooper said, leaning forward on her desk. “You, yes,” she said as she pointed to Katniss, who shrugged. “But you two are from good families.” Katniss couldn’t look over at Delly and Peeta, sitting in their chairs. What was the point? “I should give you all detention, every day after school and Saturdays too, for the rest of the month.”
Katniss knew protesting was futile. Apparently the blonde kids didn’t, though, because they both started to protest.
“Enough,” Ms. Cooper said, smacking her palm on her desk. “I should give you all detention, but I won’t. Instead, I’m sending you on a mission. We need some volunteers-“ she paused, letting everyone know that volunteer meant something different to her. “To clean up the district in time for the visit from the Capitol. In particular, the Capitol wants to see its Victor’s house sparkle. And right now, Mr. Abernathy-well, he needs some assistance getting everything into working order. And I know I can count on you three to volunteer your Saturday to cleaning that place. Top to bottom.
***
Katniss got to the house in Victor’s Village at the same time as her two classmates. The three of them stared at each other for a moment before Delly cracked a smile and said, “This isn’t going to be so bad.” She knocked on the door, but no one answered.
She knocked again, and still there was no sign of life inside.
“I’m going to go around the back and see if there’s another door,” she said, shooting Peeta a pointed look. “We want to get in before this storm starts.”
A moment after Delly took off, Peeta turned to Katniss. “Have you ever met him?” he asked. “Haymitch?”
Katniss saw no reason to answer him. How would she have ever met District 12’s most famous recluse? She’d seen Haymitch around the Hob occasionally, but she wasn’t about to stop and chat with him. No one in their right mind would want to do so before they aged out of the reapings.
“He is our Victor,” Peeta added, as though Katniss was unaware of that fact.
Why you? She thought. Out of all the kids at school, why you? She’d spent four years avoiding him, ever since they were eleven, to great success. And yet, here he was, and here she was, and now she had to talk to him?
Delly popped back on to the porch, saving Katniss from having to respond. “Let’s try the front door again!” she said, knocking firmly.
Suddenly, Katniss saw another blonde head appear in her periphery. “Madge?” she asked.
“She speaks,” Peeta said, chuckling.
“Hi Katniss, Peeta, Delly,” Madge said, rubbing her hands on her gingham dress.
“What are you being punished for?” Delly asked. “We were caught-“
The door swung open, and a tall, dark man stood in the doorway, staring at them. He drank something from his bottle. “Aren’t you kids supposed to be here on Saturday?” he asked.
“It is Saturday, sir,” Peeta said.
“Could you come back at, hmmm, 3pm?” Haymitch asked.
“No!” Katniss said. She said it with such force that she could feel four pairs of eyes on her, and she tempered her voice. “No, we’re supposed to be working now. I’m not coming back.”
“They sure make Seam kids feisty these days. Well then,” Haymitch said, regarding them. “Ok, girl-“ he pointed at Katniss. “And…. boy, you’ll be starting in the living room, and blonde girl, other blonde girl, you’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Maybe I could work in the kitchen and switch with Delly-“
“No!” Delly said. “I’ll go to the kitchen, and you work with Peeta.” She linked arms with a surprised-looking Madge and walked across the threshold. Haymitch followed them both, swaying slightly.
Katniss looked over at Peeta, just as a bolt of lighting sizzled through the air, illuminating the porch. “After you,” he said, gesturing.
Katniss stepped into the house.
And almost immediately took a step back, bumping into her cleaning partner. He put out his hands and steadied her. She opened her mouth, and she hadn’t yet decided if she wanted to scold him for offering unwanted assistance, or start the long process of thanking him, when he cut her off.
“What the hell is this?”
They both looked around at the living room. There was a television, or what had once been a television, smashed through what had once been a glass table. There was a couch that had giant holes in the fabric, and a set of shelves decorated with broken glass. A small wooden table was upended. And all over was the remnants of food, some recent, some ancient, and plates and tumblers and forks, all littered liberally over the carpet.
And there was a smell-the whole thing was ghastly.
“How could someone live like this?” Peeta asked, pulling his tshirt over his nose. “Katniss, if you want to-you could wait on the porch and I could at least take care of some of the decomposed-“
She cut him off and stepped carefully into the room. “What, you think I can’t handle this?” What was this kid’s problem? She was just as capable as he was of doing this. “Besides, it’ll be over sooner and we’ll be on out way.”
The front door, which she’d left open, banged shut at that. They both jumped, but Katniss was determined not to let him see her rattled.
Peeta disappeared, and returned with plastic bags. “Let’s get the food as much as we can, first.”
Katniss grabbed a bag from his hand and was about to start prying a former sandwich off the couch when Peeta grabbed her wrist. “Wait,” he said, and she glared at his hand, so pale and white compared to her own skin. “I brought small bags, too, so we don’t have to touch it.” He pulled his hand away from hers, and she rubbed her wrist even though it didn’t hurt. He pulled a plastic bag over his hand, like a glove, and then started in on the sandwich. From the look on his face, the task was unpleasant. But it was something she could do, better than him.
They worked in silence.
***
The knock on the door startled both of them. Katniss looked over at Peeta, who shrugged. She opened the door. She was greeted by a howl of wind and then, a person.
“Gale,” she said with a smile.
“Catnip,” Gale said, walking right in. He had his bow-and hers. “I think it’s time you left this house of horrors and came outside with me. This storm’s going to pass through soon enough, and the rain’s pretty light past the fence.” He held the bow out, and her hands itched to grab it, when she heard a small cough.
“Hawthorne,” Peeta said. His voice was cautious and his look guarded.
“Mellark,” Gale answered, giving him a sarcastic salute.
Katniss glanced over at Peeta, who was no longer sweeping up broken glass. Instead, he was staring unabashedly at the two of them, like he couldn’t decide if she was going to take off with Gale or not. She wanted more than anything to flee the house and go to the forest, but there was still a lot to be done.
She hedged. “What else is there we have to do?”
Peeta laughed. “Didn’t you read the packet?”
Of course she hadn’t read the packet.
“We have a clean up the main floor and the basement. Only the upstairs can remain… like this. And we haven’t even finished this one room.” He started again with the broom, and said, casually, “It’s fine. If you want to go I’ll cover for you. Haymitch probably won’t even notice.”
Now Katniss couldn’t possibly leave. Gale got that, and leaned her bow next to the door. “When you’re done…” he said, letting that dangle. He glanced at her, then went to open the door. He struggled for a moment, then scratched the back of his neck. He went for the handle again, pulling and pushing and not opening the door at all.
Peeta strolled over, smoothing wedging himself between Gale and the door. Gale quirked his mouth into an almost-smile when the other boy couldn’t open it either.
Peeta looked perplexed, then shrugged. He squared up his shoulders-he was broad, and when he did that, he looked older than his fifteen years. He threw his weight at the door, and fell backwards.
Gale was offering him a hand up when Madge ran down the front staircase. “Haymitch is dead!”
“No he isn’t,” Peeta said, still on the floor, though he was scrambling to stand.
“Undersee, what are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be doing something important for the world, like playing your piano?” Gale looked down at Madge
“Shouldn’t you be-I don’t have time for this! Someone needs to get Katniss’s mom over here.”
“He can’t be dead,” Peeta said. “He’s our Victor.”
Delly scurried in from the kitchen. “Who’s dead?”
Peeta answered her with, “No one’s dead” while Madge started frantically pulling on Delly’s arm.
“Just a minute, Madge, hold on-oh, hey, Hawthorne. Shouldn’t you be on the heap today?” Delly smiled sweetly.
“What’s the point, if you’re here already?” Gale smirked at her. Delly giggled.
“Guys, can we focus on the dead guy upstairs?” Madge asked, glaring. “Someone, anyone, come with me. You, Katniss.”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Katniss said, nauseous at the thought. “Besides, Peeta said we aren’t supposed to go upstairs.”
“Yeah,” Peeta said. “What were you doing upstairs, anyway?”
Madge looked pale, but grabbed Peeta and hauled him along with her.
“If the front door’s not working, we have a door in the kitchen,” Delly said, sweeping past Gale and Katniss.
They converged around the back door, but no one grabbed the handle.
“This is stupid-ack!” Gale screamed, dropping his hand as though he’d been burned.
Which, as it would turn out, he had. The smell of burning flesh filled the air. Katniss could barely bring herself to pull him to the sink, to use the running water being the richest man in 12 afforded a person. She held Gale’s fingers under the cold water and looked away.
Delly, meanwhile, failed to open the window next to the door. She also couldn’t open the one over the counter that overlooked the backyard.
They heard a scream.
“Madge!” Gale said, taking off for the stairs. Delly and Katniss took off behind him.
They found the room, the only one with an open door. Inside, Gale stroked Madge’s hair carefully. Peeta, meanwhile, knelt next to the bed, where-
“Katniss,” he said. “Your mom’s a healer. It’s in your blood. You have to-you have to try.”
Katniss didn’t want to try. Still, she knelt down next to Peeta and took Haymitch’s wrist in her hands. She held her fingers on his wrist, feeling for a pulse. She couldn’t feel anything. “Go get some water,” she snapped.
Delly took off.
“Are you going to use it to heal him?” Peeta asked, his eyes wide.
“No, I’m thirsty,” she replied. She looked over Haymitch, and saw he looked pale. His hair was greasy and dark, his stubble prominent. She cringed, but leaned over and opened his mouth. She stuck two fingers in, but didn’t feel anything blocking his airways. Nor did he have any exposed wounds. What would Mother do? she wondered.
“Maybe we should-“ But she was cut off by a scream. Delly. “You two-“ she pointed at Gale and Madge. “Go figure out what’s wrong.”
Meanwhile, she pressed her wrist on Haymitch’s forehead. He did feel cold yet, but he didn’t feel warm enough, either. Maybe they should warm him up? Or would that do anything? What were people supposed to feel like?
Damn it, she thought. She rubbed her hands on her pants, and put her wrist to Peeta’s forehead. She looked him in the eyes, trying to assess if he was the correct temperature a person should be. He looked a little pink, really, but that could be exertion, or wind burn. He was normally much paler. She touched his cheek, which was also warm.
“Katniss,” he said, his forehead puckering.
Madge ran in, panting slightly, and Katniss’s first thought was now I can feel her forehead too. But then Katniss notices the blood on Madge’s hands, and she forgets foreheads and dead men.
“We can’t find Delly.”
***
Twenty minutes later, they’ve combed through the house and found no trace of the missing girl. There was, however, a large puddle of red in front of the kitchen sink.
“This is not good,” Gale said. “We need to get out of this house.”
“We need to find Delly,” Peeta said, squaring up his shoulders. He was broader than Gale, though Gale had height that Peeta lacked. Gale’s brow furrowed.
“Of course we need to find Delly,” Madge said. “And we’ll get Haymitch some help.”
“Maybe if we save the victor, they’ll take us out of the reaping bowl,” Gale mutters, and everyone went still for a moment.
“Probably can’t hang our hats on that idea,” Peeta said.
“Not really something you have to worry about, Merchant,” Gale said.
“My name’s in that bowl, same as yours, Hawthorne,” Peeta said, squaring his shoulders again.
“It’s not the same and you know it,” Gale said, pushing up his sleeves. Katniss feared they might try come to blows, and she went towards the door for her bow.
She returned to find Madge talking low to Peeta, and Gale leaning against the counter, ignoring them both.
She handed Gale his bow and quiver.
“Really, Katniss, weapons?” Madge said, looking up from her private conversation.
“We don’t know what’s going on,” Katniss said. “It can’t hurt.”
“We should all be armed,” Gale said. “Mellark, see if you can find a rolling pin. Madge, maybe you can whack whatever this is with a pillow.”
Peeta started rummaging through drawers and cabinets. “I don’t think Haymitch has put away a dish since sometime last year,” he said, but he eventually located a frying pan and handed it to Madge. He got down on his knees and looked under the sink. “I found something!” He stood up, brandishing a knife.
The power went out.
“Anyone have any matches?” Peeta asked. The storm outside illuminated him, and the light off of his knife gave Katniss a queer feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“I have some,” Gale said, shuffling around. There was a scraping sound, and suddenly there was a little light from his hands.
“The basement,” Madge said. “That’s the one place we haven’t looked.”
“That’s such a bad idea,” Gale said. “But you’re right. Katniss?”
“Are you sure we should send down our only two people with actual weapons?” Peeta said.
Madge broke in. “Should we really split up at all?”
“Oh, come on, princess. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” Gale said, grabbing Madge’s arm. “Katniss-“ and he shoved some matches and a spare candle into her hands.
She was alone in the kitchen with Peeta.
“Are you sure you tried all the doors?” Peeta asked. “Maybe Delly opened one and left?”
“You want to check them again? Be my guest.”
Peeta grabbed her hand. She pulled it away. “What are you doing?”
“I just think we should stick together till we figure out what’s going on. We’re better together than apart, here.”
She was glad to have someone near by, especially with all the strange noises. It was just the house settling, she reasoned.
She let Peeta drag her to the door. He used the edge of his shirt to shield him from the heat, but still, the door wouldn’t open. He went around to all the possible escape routes on the main floor and found none of them would open.
“Now what?” Peeta asked. His fingers were still laced with hers, and the living room was dark, except for brief flashes of lightning through the windows, and her candle on the table.
“I don’t know,” she answered. He kept rubbing his thumb over hers, and it was distracting her.
They heard a loud curse from the basement, and she sprung away from him. Gale came running up a moment later, surprised to find Katniss standing at the top of the stairs with her bow cocked.
“Whoa, Catnip, calm down, it’s me,” he said. She felt better, but kept her arrow ready.
“Where’s Madge?” Peeta asked from just behind Katniss. His breath tickled her ear, and she slapped a hand over it and jerked away.
Gale groaned. “We were downstairs, candle out, sticking together-“
Katniss felt Peeta elbow her in the arm, as if to prove a point.
“And she just-it was like she melted into the walls. She was feeling along, looking for clues, or more blood, or something, and she just… vanished.”
Katniss felt a pang in her chest for poor Madge. For the first time, it occurred to Katniss that something had to be going on. Two girls gone, one man dead-and they still couldn’t escape.
***
They went upstairs again. This time, she stuck close to both her remaining peers, never more than a few feet from either of them. This time, all three kept their weapons at the ready.
They were going from room to room-and Katniss couldn’t help but notice how many rooms this house had, as it was easily the size of their entire school building, and had much nicer furnishings, or had before the place had been trashed-testing out windows, doors, anything they could think of. Most of the windows wouldn’t open, but finally, they found one that would.
The window overlooked a steep drop over bare dirt. She could see the Town from the window, probably a thirty minute stroll, or a twenty minute run. There were no pipes to climb down, or bushes to land in, or trees to aid the way down.
Then, the arguing started up. Gale wanted to go out the window one by one, and go get help. Peeta thought they should stay inside, where they weren’t going to end up with broken ankles from a two-story jump. Gale told Peeta he could stay, but Gale was going to grab Katniss and get them both to safety. Peeta said he wanted everyone to be safe, but felt the window wasn’t the way to go.
She, meanwhile, looked around for more supplies to aid them. She rummaged through a closet, finding nothing of use to her in it, when she realized both the boys were silent.
“So,” Gale said. “What do you think?”
By the light from the window, she could see the boys staring at her. She felt awkward. “What are we deciding on?” she asked, stalling for more time.
“Are you coming?” Gale asked. “Because I don’t care what this one says, I’m going out that window. Are you coming?”
Katniss didn’t want to stay in the house, but she also realized that long jumps weren’t a great idea, either. There was nothing to impede his jump, but there wasn’t anything to catch him, either. She cracked her knuckles. “I think we should stay here.”
“Fine,” Gale said, his voice tight. He eyed the window, and then dragged a bedside table. He boosted himself up, securing his bow. “Give me a blanket or something, so I don’t get too soaked.”
Peeta rummaged around, and found something that looked more like a table cloth, but it would have to do.
“Are you sure?” Katniss asked.
“I have to do something,” Gale said. And then he was gone, out the window.
Katniss jumped up on the table. She could see the table cloth , crumpled in a pile under the window, but Gale wasn’t in sight at all. He should still be in view she realized.
She turned to Peeta. “This isn’t good.”
He put a hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s ok.” But his smile didn’t reach his eyes. “we’ll find another way out.”
She looked back out the window, and that was when she saw it. Gale’s bow, lying several feet away from the table cloth.
She felt herself crumple. “He wouldn’t have-“
Peeta drew her into his arms, and it felt better than she expected. She wasn’t one for touching, but she was tired, so very tired. “He wouldn’t have left his bow. Something’s wrong. I don’t know what’s wrong, but-his bow should be with him.”
“He’s ok, they are all going to be ok,” Peeta murmured. “I’m sorry about your boyfriend.”
“He’s not my boyfriend,” she said, wondering if she had to start using the past tense. No, she wouldn’t. But she couldn’t bring herself to look out the window again, to see his bow abandoned.
She wondered if she should break the hug. She started to pull back, smacking a shoulder against the closet door. Something shifted, and there was a rumble and something was falling-
They were on the floor a heartbeat later, Peeta shielding her from-more broken glass? She couldn’t see clearly, but nothing hurt.
“Are you--?” she asked him.
“Mostly,” he said. “Come on.”
He grabbed her, the weapons, and the candle, and they moved cautiously into the hallway.
“I think we need a better plan, Peeta,” she said.
“I’m doing the best I can, Katniss,” he said through clenched teeth. “This isn’t exactly my usual Saturday.”
They were interrupted by another large crash.
Peeta yanked her arm hard, and Katniss found herself in some sort of bedroom.
At least, it had been a bedroom at one point. There was a bed, but the mattress had large, gaping holes in it, and there was a chest of drawers, though all but one of the drawers were missing. There was broken glass, too, as there was all over the house. The only thing that was undisturbed in the room was a skirt and a woman’s shirt, carefully hung from hangers on the wall.
“I think we’re going to die,” he said, shivering.
“We can’t,” she answered. And they couldn’t. Gale- Gale- was gone, and that left Katniss responsible for half a dozen people. She couldn’t die. She wouldn’t die.
“If we’re going to die, I have something I have to say to you-“ he said.
Katniss couldn’t imagine where this was going. If this was about that bread, she’d pay him back, somehow, soon.
“I’ll pay you back,” she blurted out.
“What? No. What? I meant, since we’re going to get killed by this awful house, and since I’ve always wanted to tell you I thought you were- I think it’s amazing how you take care of your family.”
Katniss had no idea how to respond to that. “Thank you?”
“And I’ve had a crush on you forever,” he said.
She felt her mouth drop open. She let her mind flip through the pages of her life, looking for hints from the interactions they’d had over the years. Was there something she’d missed in the past, or a sign she should have picked up on?
No. There was nothing.
He was rambling. “And I know half the guys at school are afraid of you, but I’ve seen how you are with your sister, and I know you have this sweet side no one knows about-“
Katniss didn’t want to listen to this, but didn’t know how to stop him from talking. At least, not without losing an arrow, and she didn’t want to do that.
She leaned forward and kissed him.
He stiffened. But he stopped talking.
It was her first time kissing a boy. Peeta’s lips felt strange mashed up against hers, but this seemed adequate.
Peeta pushed her away, just the slightest tap on her shoulder, and she broke it off.
His voice was hoarse. “What are you doing?”
Shutting you up probably wasn’t the best answer to give, so she just kissed him again.
This time, he anticipated her, and he caught her in his arms and crushed her against his chest.
She only had the one kiss to compare it to, but this was better. He broke it off again, and dug his non-knife hand into her hair. He pressed his forehead against hers, and she noticed his eyelashes. They were long, ridiculously long. He whispered, “I never thought we’d-this is so-.“ He kissed her this time, and she gripped him .
“What the hell are you two doing?” A voice cut through the strange kissing haze Katniss found herself in. “Don’t teens go to the slag heap anymore?”
Katniss scrambled away from Peeta, her face on fire. “You’re alive!” she said, realizing that voice belonged to the only adult in the house.
“Every single day I remind myself of that,” Haymitch said. “I don’t need you to do it too.”
“Your house is killing our friends,” Peeta said, raking his hand through his curly blond hair.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Haymitch asked.
“Delly was in the kitchen, and now she’s gone and there’s blood, and Madge disappeared in the basement, and Gale went out the window-“
“I thought there were only four of you?”
Peeta shrugged. “Right now, there are only the two of us, and I don’t think Principal Cooper is going to be happy about this.”
“I didn’t ask for a gaggle of teenagers on my doorstep, boy. But I think we can find your friends.” He took off down the hall, and Katniss had to hustle to match his long stride. “Why the hell didn’t you guys wake me?”
“You were dead,” Katniss said.
“I was napping.”
“I stuck my fingers in your mouth,” she said, shuddering. “To see if you were choking.”
“That’s hardly my idea of a fun Saturday either, girl,” Haymitch said.
***
The six of them sat on the porch, waiting for the rain to slow.
Haymitch, it seemed, was paranoid in the extreme. His house was booby-trapped; he’d meant to go over that with them, but had forgotten.
Madge had found the spinning wall, poking the candle stick that opened a secret compartment in the walls. She’d banged her head on the way in, and woke up in a small room, alone and without light. She’d been in a panic, and even now sat on the porch with her back against the house still shaking.
Delly, meanwhile, had discovered the trap door in the kitchen when she almost tripped over it. She’d tried to investigate, thinking it might get them out of there, but she’d sliced up her arm on the way in. And there was no tunnel, just a six foot drop and a heavy door.
Gale had successfully jumped the window, but had twisted his ankle. He’d had to drag himself in the opposite direction of the rest of 12, and had been found in the backyard.
“But why?” Peeta asked, for the third time.
“I hope you never find out,” Haymitch said darkly. “Look, the rain’s clearing up. I need one of you to go to get someone to fix everyone up.”
“I’ll go,” Katniss offered.
“I’ll go too,” Peeta said.
“Of course you will,” Haymitch said.
Gale’s eyes narrowed. “What do you-“
“Other boy, hush up,” Haymitch said.
Katniss turned to Madge, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Sorry you ended up here. What were you getting punished for, anyway?”
“I-.“ she mumbled. Katniss was barely a foot from her, and she could hardly hear her.
“What?” Delly asked. “It couldn’t be any sillier than why we got volunteered to go here.”
“I wasn’t. I wasn’t in trouble. I just wanted to-Maysilee Donner was my aunt. And I wanted to see if I could find-my mother never talks about her-”
Haymitch went pale. “I don’t think that’s a good-“
“Please,” Madge said.
“Fine. Once you’re healed up, we’ll chat,” Haymitch said, taking a long drink of something brown.
Katniss didn’t know what was going on, but Madge seemed miserable, so she touched her on the arm, then turned and started walking. Peeta fell in step next to her.
“So,” he said. He was limping, and it was then that she noticed his wound.
She looked over at him. “Your leg.”
“Yeah, I scratched it up something fierce when we had to dive away from that closet.”
“You injured yourself covering me,” she said.
“What was the alternative? Did you want to get sliced to ribbons?”
Katniss went quiet. This was just another thing she’d owe him. She was always owing Peeta Mellark, and she didn’t like it. “I don’t even know what this is about. You don’t even like me.”
“Not true,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“That’s why we got in trouble in the first place! You were making fun of me.” She’d been in the lunchroom, picking at her sandwich, when Delly and Peeta had approached her. She’d put them both in their place pretty quickly, but she could still feel the stares from her classmates, the heat of the humiliation.
“I wasn’t!” he said, putting his hands up. “I was trying to ask you if you wanted to go to the Harvest Festival. With me.”
“Why? You don’t need me to go with you,” she said, brow furrowed. Everyone was invited to the Harvest Festival; he didn’t need an escort from the Seam.
“True, I don’t need you, I thought it would be fun. You know, fun? We could eat popcorn, play the rubber duck game-and I’ll have you know, I love the rubber duck game-and, we could, if you want, dance at the end of the night.”
Katniss considered this. Maybe if she did this, went with him to the festival, she’d finally be done owing him. One afternoon had to equal the bread, the beating, and the leg, right? If she did this, she might be free.
Peeta smiled nervously at her, and she found herself blushing.
She knew suddenly that Gale wouldn’t be pleased, though she couldn’t put her finger on why. But her stomach lurched at the thought of trying to explain this to her friend.
“I’ll allow it,” she said.
“We might have to have lunch together one of these days, you know, at school, so we can plan our rubber duck strategy. I’ve given this game a lot of thought, I’ll have you know.”
Katniss laughed. He stepped in front of her, and for a moment, she was worried he’d try to kiss her. Again.
“I’m really excited, Katniss,” he said, brushing a hair off her face. His fingertip brushed over her brow, and she felt an unexpected heat from the contact. “I’m glad we’re getting to know each other.” He turned back to the path and starting limping back to town.
She wondered if he meant that, or if this was a one-time thing, born out of panic and fear, and if, come Monday morning, he’d be eating lunch with his usual crowd. She wondered if he really had a crush on her, and what that would mean for the two of them.
Out of all the kids in school, she thought. Why me?